Flipped
by FLASOK
Summary: They were trying to get me to fall in love with him or something...Well, I was sorry to disappoint them, but that wasn’t going to happen. There were never any sparks between us and never would be according to MY plans. MODERN DAY KATAANG
1. I Trade My Super Hot FD Date For A Geek

**A/N- WARNING: This note is of epic proportion. Skip if you only came here for the story. xDD **

**On a personal note****: **

**Wow! It's been a while hasn't it? xDDDD**

**Well, here's the deal- I was unhappy with my writing, so I read a bunch of books to see if I could improve my literature. Mind you, these are well written novels; I looked for an hour just to get one book. xDDDD**

**Hopefully, my efforts have been completely worth it and I don't fail miserably. If this works, I will be changing my username. 8DDD**

**Wish me luck!**

**Story-wise****:**

**I watched this movie a while back (not going to say which one, because you may have seen it) and was inspired by the plot. So, here I am to tell that story in the form of Kataang, and also a little differently than the movie did. Everything is much better with Kataang; it's a proven fact. 8|**

**Another thing- I've been doing some studies and I've found the reason why it's so incredibly difficult to keep characters IN character in AU stories; it's the different environment. You get to be the person you are because of the conditions you grow up in right? So it only makes sense for characters to act differently outside their normal universe. Then you think, what's the point of even naming it an Avatar fanfiction if it's different characters with the same name? Well, honestly, I keep it as Avatar fanfiction because there are only minor changes most of the time that one has to make. That and I like their appearances. My point? Excuse slight OOC-ness if there is any. 8)**

**What I'm asking****:**

**A lot of you who have read my stories know that I can't finish a multi-chapter for my life. It's quite sad really. xDDD What I would really appreciate is support to keep going. **

**I'm ****NOT**** asking for this- "OMG LEIK, I NEED 5OO REVIEWS OR I WON'T WRITE EVER AGAIN!!!!1!!!!1!!one!!" I'm not even really asking for reviews because now that I've discovered the "How many hits" feature, they don't seem so crucial anymore. They really brighten my day though. x33**

**Bottom line: reviews are appreciated, thanks for putting up with my rant if you're still reading this, on with the flipping story already. xDDDDD**

**Chapter One- I Trade My Super Hot Freshman Dance Date For A Geek**

KATARA

Another pen cap has fallen victim to my fierce chewing and I spit the mangled remains into the trashcan beside me. I'd been doing that a lot lately; chewing pen caps I mean. It's the same thing as when people bite their nails or twirl their hair around their finger or bite their lip, only in my particular case, its pulverizing unsuspecting pen caps with my molars. Bic if you want to get specific.

Anyway, that doesn't matter. The reason I'm sitting on my bed chomping on pen caps is because I'm stressed out; you would be too if your totally hot boyfriend dumped you three months away from the freshman dance. Now, I was dateless, single, and angry.

To think; at some point I actually thought the jerk was The One, but that thought was dashed the minute he walked up to me and broke it off. Earlier, I cried about it, thinking it was I who was to blame, but the more I dwelled on it, the more I noticed how much I didn't deserve him. Not to sound conceited or anything, but it was true. I had A's, I was considering colleges, I was nice, and I was a worthwhile person. That's called self esteem, not conceit, my friends.

Getting back to my current position, I sat on the bed after school on Tuesday, staring at the opposite wall. I'd been staring at it so long now that my eyes began to ache and I discovered the blue paint was beginning to fade a little bit. Guess that goes to show I need more homework to occupy my time.

I whipped out another pen and chomped down on the plastic lid. When my teeth closed on it, making it so the cap would never again fit over the pen, warmth from the friction exploded on the right side of my mouth. For some reason, I always liked that first-time-chewed reaction. I heard the cap crunch as I bit down on it and the edge on the little clip on the side dug into the space between my back teeth. I ended up spitting that one out before I'd completely flattened it though because my cell phone rang.

I snatched it up and checked the caller ID to see Suki was the one interrupting my thoughts. I flipped it open and said, "Hey, Suki," into the mouthpiece.

"Hey, Katara. How are you?" she asked. By the concern in her voice, I knew she was asking about the break-up.

"I'm fine. Jet was a jerk anyway; I don't need him. I just have to make sure I get a new date for freshman dance now."

"That shouldn't be too hard. There are plenty of guys out there who would be more than willing to go with you."

I knew that as well as anyone did being that my locker was constantly plagued with boys trying to win my heart. This time was different though; I wanted someone handsome, but with a decent personality. I voiced this thought. Going through the whole Jet fiasco didn't seem like a desirable thing to experience for a second time.

"Hmm. That really narrows it down then. Are you sure you just don't want a cute idiot?"

I laughed and replied,

"Positive."

"I'll get the girls together then. We'll totally help you find a date. No girl deserves to miss their first high school dance!" she sang, and then added, "I'd talk more, but I only had time to catch up with you. You know how Sokka is."

"You have NO idea." I muttered, and then laughed.

"Well he IS your brother. Anyway, I gotta go. See you tomorrow!"

With that note, she hung up, obviously enthusiastic about this and I snapped my phone shut. I decided I'd let Suki have some fun with her match-making game; besides, maybe she'd find a really neat guy for me. I trusted her judgment enough to excuse her choice of dating my brother. Don't get me wrong; I love Sokka to death and he's the smartest guy I know, but sometimes he could be such a meathead.

My pen cap was lying on my sheets in front of me. Had I still been stressed, I would have picked it up and started chewing again, but instead, comforted that there was still hope I'd get My Night and date, I introduced it to the other dead pan caps, throwing it in the trash.

~****~

It's funny how fast the back up plans spring into action. Before I knew it, I found myself outside the school, searching for my man the next morning. That's the way these break-ups work though; one minute you're moping and the next you're getting on with your life. Suki, Yue, On Ji, and Toph were seated around me, but Toph was the only one not paying attention. I could tell by her face that she'd rather be arm wrestling one of the football players in homeroom, and at the rate the boy-search was going, I was on the same page. Suki made a sound between a groan and a sigh, exasperated by my refusal to choose someone already. (I'd declined every one so far.)

"You've got to pick SOMEONE," she grumbled.

"Sorry! It's just everyone we've seen so far doesn't feel like the right guy."

Suki scowled at me.

"This is going to take forever then! And don't give me that look; I know how you are about choosing Him, or The One."

She had me pinned spot on and it made me frustrated that she was right.

"I'm picking one for you," she stated rolling her eyes and turning to watch the line of students filing inside.

She carefully scanned every boy passing through the front doors of Gaoling High and around the front of it until finally, her lips spread into a wide grin of approval. I knew she had found "him" at that point. I could only hope he gave me the right impression.

"That one, right there in the orange and the arrow hat. You can't miss him." she said. She sounded happy with herself, so I tried to relax.

I looked around for said boy and found him immediately (orange is a very noticeable color), buried in homework and seated on the wall curling around the school garden. His face was hidden by a book, so I couldn't make a full evaluation just yet. So far though, the vibes were good. They may have been suggesting he was a bit on the geeky side, but they were good. And then, he dropped the book to grab his calculator.

I recognized Aang Wiater's face immediately and the red light went off.

"Aang? Aang Wiater?" I hissed, "Suki, you just had to go and pick the guy who was my best friend from preschool to fifth grade, didn't you?"

"I didn't know it was him!" She sounded a little apologetic, but then she smirked. "But now you're stuck with him."

"No I'm not. I refuse to turn Aang Wiater into my date."

At this point, Toph found it appropriate to cut in and completely blackmail me.

"You have to do it. Suki said you're stuck with him," she said, grinning evilly.

"I don't care."

"I guess you'd rather have me tell the whole school what your dad used to call you when you were little and that little kiss you and Haru shared on the playground under the slide in second grade?"

A wave of panic hit me and I frantically looked back at Aang, buried in his book once again.

Let me take a minute to explain something here: Aang Wiater and I used to be like brother and sister when we were younger. We played together, got in and out of trouble together…everything! At least, it was like that until we transitioned from fourth to fifth grade.

I should tell you Aang used to live about three blocks down from me and that's important, because he moved during fifth grade. When the moving truck whisked him away, our connection had been broken. I know what you're probably thinking, so I'll explain.

I could have easily gotten his phone number, right? Wrong.

The move was sudden; it came without warning and I didn't even really see Aang during the whole thing. In fact, I hadn't really seen the Wiater family at all. Only later was I told that Aang's parents had been killed on a mission for the Peace Corps. It was a freak accident; it wasn't supposed to happen.

After that, Aang pulled away from society, took comfort in books where the world couldn't hurt him, but most of all, he pulled away from me. There were a few factors contributing to this besides his parent's death. One, was he was a boy and there is that certain age when hanging around girls is no longer acceptable. Aang was never like any of the other boys, but it didn't mean he didn't do typical guy things. Two, was that after the move, we had no way to communicate (No phone numbers you see, which is kind of odd considering my family lived just a few blocks away and I was constantly hanging around with him.) and school pulled us apart. We met new people and moved on with our lives; simple as that. Now I was being forced to rekindle the old friendship between us.

I guess I was just going to have to forget going to the dance with my dream guy, because there was no way I was going to date Aang Wiater, my old, geeky best friend. (I mean that in the most endearing of ways. There ARE such things as cool geeks.)

"Fine." I finally mumbled and Suki squealed, hugging me tightly.

"Oh, this is SO romantic! Two childhood friends getting back together!" she babbled.

I ignored her.

And so, the adventure unfolded, poor Aang being oblivious to our scheming. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to back out. It wasn't that I didn't like Aang, it was just…well actually, I didn't know what it was. Maybe I felt like I was somehow going to hurt him with this whole plan. It was impossible to tell at this moment in time which turned out to be incredibly irritating as I really did need to be able to think. Despite my feelings on the subject however, I was forced to drop it and go along with all the setups the girls put me up to.

First on the agenda: Eye contact.

They were trying to get me to fall in love with him or something; I was sure of it by the romantic manner in which they were constructing everything. Well, I was sorry to disappoint them, but that wasn't going to happen. There were never any sparks between us and never would be according to MY plans. Aang was nothing more than a friend to me and as of right now, he wasn't even that. I mean, come on I hadn't talked to the guy in four years. They couldn't expect me to suddenly fall head-over-heels for him.

Nonetheless, Suki's plans were quickly put into action. It would all go off in Math class today; I would make eye contact with him for the first time in four years.

**A/N- For once in my writing life, I actually like how this came out. (Just wait though. I'll hate it a week from now) xDDDD I can only hope you all liked it too.**

**BTW- WWaC ****WILL ****be updated soon. I haven't given up on that one yet. xDDD I might even FINISH it! **


	2. I'm Glad I Dropped The Pickax

**Chapter Two- I'm Glad I Dropped The Pickax **

AANG

Ever since I accidentally locked myself in the towel closet upstairs in my old house when I was four, close spaces haven't been my cup of tea. Actually, that was an understatement. I was downright terrified of them. Judging by the fact I was now stuffed in a locker, every joint of me aching and my body feeling compressed and suffocated, you could just guess how my day was going. To top it all off, the first period bell had rung roughly ten minutes ago and I was missing math class, which really sucked because I had tried so hard to get all my homework done outside the front of the school earlier. It just so happened that Zuko Hayes decided to commence his revenge on me today. I shouldn't really say commence though, because our problem had begun back in sixth grade. See, I don't really know what happened; it was something about a Hit List in Zuko's locker, but it wasn't his and somebody blamed it on me and well…let's just say it explains my current position. Zuko keeps yelling about something that includes me wrecking his reputation or something, and now he has to get it back. I'm just the outlet he plugs all his frustration into when things don't go so well. I think he thinks that every failure is my fault somehow.

At first, his hatred towards me wasn't such a big deal because it was just verbal blows, and I could handle that well enough. This year though, he's resorted to physical punishment and I'm starting to rethink my decision of being a pacifist.

Putting my issue with Zuko aside, the fact of the matter was that I was crammed in his locker and about to start hyperventilating. I was already breathing in little sips and I knew that led to breathing in sobs, then gulps, and then full blown hyperventilating. If someone didn't get me out soon, I would either throw up, or pass out. Although it may seem strange to pick which horrible thing you'd rather have happen to you, I was hoping I would pass out. If I puked…I didn't even want to think about that. I'd be a mess, Zuko's locker would be a mess, and then he'd have another reason to hate me.

I was breathing in sobs now as the walls seemed to press harder against me.

Technically, there's a way to open these lockers from the inside, but I'm crammed in here so tightly I can't move even the slightest millimeter. Zuko had also cleverly shoved me in face first, my face mashing into his smoky-smelling school bag so that I could neither see, nor turn around. You know what other miseries it caused me? My voice was muffled, so no one could hear me unless the halls were dead silent and I yelled as loud as my constricted chest could.

My sobs escalated to gulps and I was getting lightheaded. I wasn't going to make it…I was going to pass out in Zuko's stale smelling locker only to fall out later, humiliatingly in front of a crowd of students. My knees started to tremble as panic rippled through my body as I did my best to hold myself up so I could get enough air to last me a few more minutes. I knew it was hopeless though; between being smothered by Zuko's book bag and diaphragm spasms, my consciousness was fading fast.

The tight space was unbearable as it continued to close in around me and I started freaking out. My mind started to get fuzzy, the corners of my vision darkened and then…light and open space. I tumbled out of the locker, falling on my back and bruising my tailbone. I could care less though. I was free!

I tried to stand, but my knees buckled and my head spun. I felt slightly nauseous and I kneeled while I attempted to control my breathing.

"Aang, that's the fourth time this month I've had to pull you out of something," a voice said from above me. I recognized it as Mr. Sato's (the janitor) gruff articulation. I should have known it was he who had come to my rescue.

"Thank you," I gasped. "One more minute in there and I would've passed out."

"Good thing I check this locker every day then, huh?" he chuckled. Then his strong grip was heaving me to my feet. I swayed a little, stars popping in front of my eyes like film grain, but I regained my balance after a few seconds.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?"

"No, sir."

Mr. Sato was a middle-aged man, around fifty or something and his face reminded me of leather, tanned and creased as it was. I was pretty sure men his age didn't go to tanning salons, but he had the face to give the impression he did. Mostly, the creases were around his eyes; probably from years of squinting into keyholes and lockers and school machinery. He had a firm-looking build and always stood straight like his back was permanently vertical, and his hair was a salt-and-pepper field of fluffy grass. Well, his hair wasn't REALLY grass, but Ithink you get it.

The two of us had met early in the school year. I had been locked in the supply closet that time and Mr. Sato had been very surprised to find a trembling freshman curled in the corner instead of a mop. He'd dragged me all the way to the nurse's office where I immediately stumbled to the sink and puked my guts up after I made myself sick with panic. Not the best way to start a friendship, but all the same, he patted my back gently as that day's lunch was given back to the school.

After the closet incident, he discovered me in various other places (mostly Zuko's locker) and found out that I was both claustrophobic and had a problem with Zuko. We got to know each other pretty well with our numerous trips to the health office.

He keeps asking me, begging really, to tell someone about my problem, but I keep arguing that it's no big deal. He gives me a skeptical look each time and stares pointedly at the puke bucket that sometimes rests in my lap after yet another ordeal. He doesn't get it though; things will just get worse if I tell someone. As much as I respect Mr. Sato, I can't take his advice. Punishment wasn't going to stop Zuko; they had to show him the impact of his actions; to make him understand. Otherwise, he won't, and my problems will escalate with every detention he receives.

"I'll tell your math teacher the situation and you get your books," Mr. Sato told me, and he walked off down the hall towards Mrs. Rompaey's room. I did as he told me, turning and walking the opposite way he was. My locker was just a few rows down.

I noticed the visor of my hat was crooked, probably because of my face smashing into the schoolbag, and I adjusted it back into place. My arrow beanie was my identity, plus it hid my impossible hair. No matter what I did to it, it could never be tamed into a reasonable state. My dad used to say I got it from Gyatso, my uncle, which is kind of hard to fathom considering he's now bald. I'm pretty sure he shaves it though and, taking into account my supposedly identical locks, I can see why.

As I tug my books from my locker, I sigh and think to myself, _another typical day for Aang Wiater. _I didn't get stuffed in lockers EVERY day, but it happened often enough that it was a part of my life.

Apparently, being late to math was now a part of my life because as I walked in, no one noticed me, including the teacher. I sat down in my seat and tuned into Mrs. Rompaey's talk about matrices.

When it came time to take out a piece of paper to begin some class work, I felt someone tap my shoulder and I turned to see On Ji smiling at me. I smiled back.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Katara needs a piece of paper. Do you have any?" She pointed to Katara and I froze the minute I saw her. Mind you, I hadn't seen Katara since fifth grade. Teams in middle school made sure we didn't see each other for the three years we spent there and I had only briefly noted she was in our class having larger problems to deal with at the time. How could I have been so oblivious? Now, as I looked at her, I saw what I had been missing so much all these years. It was the biggest relief to see my childhood best friend smiling at me. And man, she had grown to be so beautiful! Stunning, really! The hormonal-teenage-boy part of me was going crazy.

Eventually, I looked away from her sparkly blue eyes long enough to pull some loose leaf from my binder and hand it to her shyly.

"Thank you," she whispered in a voice that sounded like dripping honey. (Gah! What was wrong with me?)

I nodded shortly, my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth. Oh man, it was already enough that I had seen her properly for the first time in four years, but her prettiness just sent me off the edge of a slippery slope, my pickax left at the top and hopelessly out of reach.

And I had no desire to claw my way back up.


	3. Some Things Never Change

**Chapter Three-Some Things Never Change**

KATARA

Just as predicted, everything went as planned. Well, almost everything, and that's not including the fact that Aang was late to class, whatever THAT was about. I'm going to be honest when I say that I hadn't expected Aang's eyes to be so lovely and…mysterious. That may sound like the worst word ever to describe eyes, but I swear that's how they looked. Even though the rest of him was nothing too spectacular to look at, his eyes were undeniably…hot. Not even I, who am still strongly against the whole dating-Aang thing, can deny grey eyes are hot. Before you go thinking that the rest of Aang was ugly though, note that I said 'nothing too spectacular'. His face was perfectly proportioned and all, no big nose or anything, but he wasn't devastatingly handsome like Jet had been before I saw him through different eyes. I didn't know how to describe it, but how about we all agree that he looked normal, puberty had been kind to him, and leave it at that?

I should mention that our scheme earned Aang a fan girl. You remember how On Ji had tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention? Well, she later admitted to me that she thought he was super cute and that if I didn't want him, could she have him. I told her to have at it because I didn't care. My goal was to get him to ask me to Freshman Dance as friends and be just friends after that. Romance was out of the question.

_Maybe you're letting your hurt feelings get in the way_, my mind told me, _you know Aang is a decent guy and you were really close to him at one point. If you just gave him a chance and looked at him differently…_

My thoughts were cut short after that because I knew it was just the thought of his eyes and not him as a whole that made me think those things. It was wise to cut them short before I made the unwise decision to believe them.

~****~

Sokka and I bonded over some Lucky Charms the following morning and we ate in semi-darkness as Gran-Gran napped on the couch. Caring for the two of us must wear her out.

"Physics is the best subject EVER! I can't wait for the practicum," he told me as he fished for marshmallows. I scrunched my nose in disgust.

"I hate to disagree, Sokka, but Physics is awful," I said, chewing my cereal.

"You only hate it because you're terrible at it," he retorted, grinning smugly at me from across the table. I flung a rainbow marshmallow at his head where it attached to his cheek due to its stickiness from the milk. He plucked it off and ate it.

"Well, you only like it because you're…good at it!" I snapped, trying to sound angry, but I was grinning.

"Exactly."

"…I despise you."

"Love you too."

That was how our morning usually went, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Our arguments were usually all just to poke fun; siblings do that as a statement of love.

Getting to more important things though, last night, Suki called me again to tell me the next order of business: talking to Aang.

Well, that shouldn't be too hard. All I have to do is say the right words and WA-LA, a conversation. We had history, so this was going to be a piece of cake. Or, so I thought.

Aang was nowhere to be found the next morning and a feeling in my gut told me that it had something to do with whatever had made him late to math yesterday. Maybe this was why I never realized he was so close to me all this time-he was constantly missing! Frowning, I blew a loose strand of hair from my face and went looking for Toph instead. I always knew where to find her, and that was in the cafeteria. I swear the girl loves food as much as my brother does, and that's saying something.

Sure enough, Toph was arm wrestling Hide, one of the football players, while casually eating a raspberry danish. She didn't even look like she was putting forth the slightest amount of effort while Hide was using both hands to try and win.

"Sup, Sugar Queen?" she greeted when I was close enough to hear her. Her voice was even instead of laced with strain as I had expected.

"That's disturbing, Toph."

"What's disturbing?"

"You're not even trying! How is that even possible?! I mean, for God's sake, Hide's on the football team!" I exclaimed. I didn't get an explaination, only a To further confuse me, Toph slammed both Hide's hands down with a _bang_ and popped the rest of the danish into her mouth.

"Catch you pansies later," she said with a smirk making Hide scowl. The two of us walked out of the cafeteria, my brain hurting from seeing Toph defy the laws of nature, leaving him and his friends to wallow in their humiliating loss.

"How's the whole Aang-thing going?" she asked once we were in the crowded hallways. Although the question was a gesture of good intention, it made me angry. I angled my shoulders forward in frustration and glared at nothing in particular.

"Horrible. I can't find Aang anywhere," I told her, throwing my hands up in exasperation.

"Hmmm. Funny. I would have thought you wouldn't care so much. Or are you just THAT desperate to get a date?" Her grin was aggravating and if I didn't know any better, I would've socked her in the arm as punishment for my discomfort. It wasn't like that; I wasn't _using_ him… was I?

"Quit it, Toph," I grumbled, unwilling to think about it in fear I might discover I was doing wrong here.

She was still grinning evilly in victory when suddenly, she stopped dead and glared murderously at someone. I followed her gaze to find she was staring death at Shoji. Apparently, he caught sight of her too because he yelped in horror and backpedaled quickly, tripping over someone in the process. He managed to scramble to his feet just in time, running for his life as Toph charged after him yelling,

"YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET THE DAY YOU DROPPED THAT DUMBBELL ON MY FOOT!!!"

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!!" I heard his fading voice cry.

I didn't know it at that moment, but I was glad that Toph had ran after the poor kid later, (Toph usually accompanied me to math before she ran off to English) because as I was traveling to math class, I heard some kind of whine come from that teeny tiny little storage closet in the B hallway. Thinking that I had imagined it, I just kept walking, but I heard it again, accompanied by something that sounded like coughing. Whoever was in there was in trouble and I quickly rushed over to the door, trying the handle. I should've known it would be locked. I pulled one of my bobby pins out and jammed it into the keyhole, twisting it, hoping I could be helpful to the trapped person.

People were already in class at this point, but the bell hadn't rung yet. I still had a minute or so. Finally, _miraculously_, the lock clicked open and I nearly ripped the door off its hinges as I opened it. A box of light from the hallway revealed Aang, shivering on the floor, arms wrapped around his middle, kneeling and bent over so his forehead touched the tile. He was breathing funny, like in some kind of choked sob. There weren't any tears, but he looked close to them.

Knowing exactly what to do, I ran up to him, grabbed him around his torso and pulled him out into the hall. I distantly heard the bell ring, but at this point, I considered myself excused from class. I didn't even realize what I was doing as I kneeled beside him and unraveled him so he could breathe properly.

"Deep breaths, Aang," I urged him. "You're out now." That was what I used to tell him when this happened. I had been there during the time he accidentally locked himself in that towel closet and the time he had been so afraid to get construction paper from the art closet, the teacher had to call his parents to tell them their son refused to come out of the corner. I knew better than anyone about his phobia besides his parents who…weren't around anymore. A sudden pang of grief went through me as I looked at Aang who was sitting and had his elbows on his knees, his palms pressing into his eyes.

_He doesn't deserve this,_ I thought. What I meant was, he didn't deserve the misery he probably felt. I made a vow to kick whoever had stuck him in there's butt, only to wonder where these protective feelings were coming from.

When he calmed down enough to speak, he smiled weakly at me and said, "Just like old times, huh?"

I believe it was somewhere in this moment that I realized what had really just happened; I pretty much went superhero and dragged the guy I was supposed to be slowly rebuilding my friendship with out of a storage closet and was kneeling beside him in a space that could easily be classified as his personal bubble. I may have just skipped right on to step twelve of the plan.

"Yeah…" I replied. My voice was airy and confused. Against my will, I was smiling at him now. "I missed those days." (WHOA. Back up a second. Did I REALLY just say that…?)

He blinked at me.

"Me too. I…I thought you forgot," he said, his eyes alight with some kind of hope.

Well, that answered that. I'd said it.

"I wouldn't forget," I replied without thinking. (Where were these words coming from?!)

I didn't understand it! Conversation was coming to me easier than I thought, and I thought it'd be pretty easy, but not only was I conversing with him, I was talking to him on a personal level.

It came to me then that Aang had a power over me that I didn't realize was there when he handed me that sheet of paper; a power over my heart that made me soft towards him. It was as if all those years of separation…didn't exist.

Well, he may have had power, but I wasn't going to give him control, so I grinned at him and pulled him to his feet.

"It's been a while," I said with confidence in my voice. "How about we catch up with each other at Salad World?"

He smiled and replied, "Sure!"

Step two? Complete.


End file.
